Friday, May 02, 2008

Show 33 Wrap-up

Thanks so much to my guest Dr. John Halamka for being on The Doctor Anonymous Show. Very knowledgeable guy. So much so that I have to admit that I was a little intimidated after doing research for this interview. But, to my pleasant surprise, not only is he a knowledgeable guy, a very nice guy - and funny.

We talked about his early love for medicine and technology. He is the first physician in his family and talked about how he built his first computer. Then, the talked about how he used this passion for technology in medical school and in residency. Following his emergency medicine residency, the pursued a fellowship in Health Informatics and then eventually ended up in his position right now which is Chief Information Officer at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

How do you incorporate technology in a health setting? We talked about when he started in Boston and when Paul Levy became CEO of the hospital there. Since it's my show, I talked about my situation being a physician leader at my hospital and how sometimes physicians can be resistant to change - particularly technology change.

Close to the end of the show, we talked about the partnership between Google Health and Cleveland Clinic in the area of health information. He informed me that his hospital has also partnered with Google for a similar program. Sarebear called into the show and discussed topic as well.

Finally, on a lighter note, John discussed his personal weight loss story which included a shift toward vegan life. The weight loss has opened the doors for him to do things like rock climbing and ice climbing. He also has a love for the Japanese flute (music included in the video post above). And, we talked about his association with Blackberry. Can you believe this guy gets 600-700 e-mails a day? Sheesh! Don't forget to rate the show here after listening to it. Have a great weekend!